iPod Confusion

Q. I want to buy an iPod, but am unable to decide on the model. Budget is not an issue-I want the best available. Also, where I can buy one from? Ms Motiwalla

Till recently, three types of iPod were available-the iPod, iPod Mini, and iPod Shuffle. Apple recently phased out the iPod Mini and brought in the iPod Nano, which has a colour screen. It comes in 2 GB and 4 GB variants. While the regular iPod has a capacity ranging from 20 GB to 60 GB, the Shuffle ranges from 512 MB to 1 GB. The iPod is hard drive-based and has a colour screen, while the Shuffle and the Nano are based on Flash memory. The Shuffle lacks a screen.

Over a period of time, all hard-drive based players are prone to failure, but they're cheaper than Flash memory-based players.

The regular iPod offers a large storage capacity at a reasonable price, but do remember that it's a hard drive-based player. The iPod Shuffle offers limited capacity and functionality. The iPod Nano offers the best of both worlds-relatively good storage capacity and the robustness of Flash memory.

The regular iPod starts from Rs 17,000 and goes up to 30 K, depending on capacity. The iPod Nano will set you back by Rs 13,000 for the 2 GB model and Rs 18,000 for the 4 GB. The iPod Shuffle retails at around Rs 5K for the 512 MB and Rs 7,500 for the 1 GB.

You can call Apple's Bangalore office at 080-25550575 for details about your local dealer.

Which Printer For Me?Q. I want to purchase an inkjet printer either from Canon or HP. My monthly usage is 200 B/W documents, 30 colour documents and 10 photos. I have assigned a budget of Rs 8,000 at the most. I have used the Canon S200SPX previously. Dr N V Krishna

From the usage pattern you've mentioned, I think you can safely go in for any mid-range printer, usually costing between Rs 5 K and 7.5 K. Both HP and Canon, have good models that should fit your needs.

I would recommend you go for the new Pixma range of printers from Canon. These offer good printing speeds and a decent number of features for the price. Also, they feature individual ink tanks. For your budget, I would recommend the Canon Pixma iP 3000. (Refer the Digit August 2005 issue for more on printers.)

Dial M For PentiumQ. I am considering buying a laptop for routine work. I have done some preliminary research on the Internet and in the local market. I am confused about certain parameters, though. What is the difference between Pentium IV, Pentium M and Celeron M, and what should I purchase?
I will use my laptop for programming on C/C , VB, Java, Oracle, SQL and .NET to name a few, in addition to using it for multimedia-movies, music and games. Most importantly, my budget is a modest Rs 50 K. Peeyush Tripati

There are a lot of differences between the Pentium IV and Pentium M processos available for laptops. With laptops, parameters such as battery life and weight dictate the design route a manufacturer would take.
Before the advent of Intel's Centrino platform, the majority of laptops were fitted with desktop variants of Pentium III and then Pentium IV processors. But since these processors were designed to fit in a desktop system, when it came to conserving power, they were inefficient and hence, the battery life of laptops was hugely compromised.
Intel then came up with a new platform called the Centrino. This platform consists of a processor-the Pentium M; a chipset; and a wireless adapter. It was designed from the ground up to be power-efficient. Also, since most of the components were integrated, it helped in reducing bulk.
The Pentium M processor, under no load, scales down its frequency to save power. For example, a 2 GHz processor will scale down to, say, 700 MHz when there is no load, but within microseconds, it attains 2 GHz when additional horses are called for.
AMD's Turion processor is also based around similar technology, and is equally good. The Celeron M is similar to the Pentium M in the power efficiency factor, but like the desktop Celeron, performance takes a back seat.
As of today, opting for anything other than Centrino would be foolish. HP has some good Centrino-based models in the Rs 45 K to 50 K range. Try the Presario M2000 series-it should come to under 50K.

My Budget PC!

Month after month, I get letters asking for a PC configuration for about Rs 30K. Here's the configuration I would put my money into! If you need better performance, change the processor to one with a higher rating, put around a GB of RAM and if you want to game, add in the mentioned optional graphics card.